post 1.19 reviw by MMORPG.com

[zed32]

Fair and honest review. He left it on a positive note at least.

We have to remember that we've become used to the UI, levequesting, crafting/gathering minigames, and grind that the reviewer distresses over. Put yourself in a brand new player's view who just got done playing Rift or even FFXIII, and you'll understand where he's coming from.

Exactly. My one friend and I just started to get back in hardcore and we were loving the patch. Deleted our characters and started anew. Played our first 12hr marathon session, felt like I was 14 years old again. But when we invited some of our other friends in we realized we have just gotten used to all the little weird quirks that put a lot of other players off.

It was sort of a kill joy being asked 'How do we mail stuff?' - 'Any easier way to trade/sell/etc.' - 'Can we customize the chocos?' - 'So what do I do now that I'm too low level to continue the main story line' - 'Wheres jobs?' - 'They need more side quests' - 'How do I find parties, are there open parties in this game, hows the party search work?' - 'So we just uh grind for xp? no questing or any other way?' - 'These leves are getting boring, anything new?' - 'Do we have houses and such?' - 'What about these link shell commands?' - and my answer being the same 'uh...its coming soon...i think?'

[Sagagemini]

This game will be a 5 for a long time.

[Anapingofness]

I can understand where the review is coming from... but my question to everyone out there is- With a game like FFXIV, what do you start fixing first?

There is just so much to fix... Personally, I think Yoshi-P and the Dev team have been doing a good job but I also think that they're spreading themselves too thin in certain respects. That is why we still have some of the same issues since day one.

I think they should simply focus on one thing, fix it, move to another.

However, from what I've seen on the forums I don't think that this player base (or what's left of it) will allow for that type of a path. Most of what I have seen has been "Omg why isn't X fixed" or "I want Y to be fixed!".

In my opinion, patch 1.19 was the first "real" patch because it brought so much to the game. However, I wouldn't call them 50% way to anything. I'd put them at 30% because there is still a lot of issues that need to be addressed such as actual story lines of the cities and grand companies. (to list an example)

Story lines are the cornerstone of what makes an FF an FF, yet such an important part of it has been left to the birds for now. They need to introduce plot and add more content that spans levels 1 to 50 because all there is right now is content AT level 50, thus the whining about the PLing.

All in all though, I think FFXIV is getting better. I've stuck around to see what it can become because I do have faith that it will become something good. For all of their hard work, I think Yoshi-P and the dev team deserve a sound round of applause.
^^

[Vesper]

Completely agree with this review.

User interface is still one of the largest issues of the game that needs to be addressed. I am really not sure why it hasn't been completely overhauled. The multiple action bars shown on screen at the same time is a feature that cannot wait much longer to be implemented.

Guildleves and grinding are still the best ways to level up (if we're ignoring power leveling). The side-quests should yield more SP and be more inventive. We haven't seen any cool mechanics associated with them. They are literally all simply escort or kill and return.

Finally, there is a glimmer of hope, and the game has actually made me enjoy myself recently. With the materia system and the grand companies, I feel like we may be getting there. But like Yoshi said, I feel its only 50% of the way, and I think they accurately gauged that percentage before announcing it.

Also, I'd just like to add that compared to the 1.18 review, I felt MMORPG did give this an objective review from the prospective of what SE needs to hear from the most: the disgruntled player who hated the game at launch. Not XI elitists or XIV hopefuls, but the player base that no longer cares.

I agree with parts of the review, but like many asshat reviews out there, he only play tested a few things then had the nerve to write a review about the entire patch. He didn't even mention the majority of the changes, which as a review worth his salt should always do.

[Jennestia]

his game over a year after release doesnt have nearly as much content as some MMOs released 5-10 years ago AT THEIR RELEASE.

Uh..many MMOs released 5-10 years ago had little to no content. If people consider guildleves as no content you can't consider the kill quests said MMOs had content. Most MMOs released 5-10 years ago had hundreds of "Kill 5+ Mob1,Mob2,Mob3 (various other amounts)" and "Retrieve (interactive item in the field)" quests.

All are the same with a different coat of paint.

I guess you folks who enjoy the game need to get to blogging, maybe start a website that gets tens of thousands of hits a day to combat these unfair depictions of FFXIV.

Given your constant negativity towards this game it's not unexpected you're overlooking the blatant bias against this game -- Using CONFIRMED OLD screenshots even from BETA as part of the review? Completely overlooking the meat of the patch?

There's a fine line between "combating unfair depictions" and agreeing with blatant bias.

[XxOstiaxX]

Uh..many MMOs released 5-10 years ago had little to no content. If people consider guildleves as no content you can't consider the kill quests said MMOs had content. Most MMOs released 5-10 years ago had hundreds of "Kill 5+ Mob1,Mob2,Mob3 (various other amounts)" and "Retrieve (interactive item in the field)" quests.

All are the same with a different coat of paint.



Given your constant negativity towards this game it's not unexpected you're overlooking the blatant bias against this game -- Using CONFIRMED OLD screenshots even from BETA as part of the review? Completely overlooking the meat of the patch?

There's a fine line between "combating unfair depictions" and agreeing with blatant bias.

Vanilla wow had more content in it's starting zones than this games has up to date Dare to disagree please

[Velhart]

Vanilla wow had more content in it's starting zones than this games has up to date Dare to disagree please

In FFXIV, you went to an NPC, grabbed quests, did the quests, and got EXP/currency.

WoW, you went to an NPC, grabbed quests, did the quests, and got EXP/currency.

You did not do anything beyond that.

Like Jennestia said, just a different coat of paint. The main problem with FFXIV at the time was limiting how much you could play.

[Tibian]

I agree with parts of the review, but like many asshat reviews out there, he only play tested a few things then had the nerve to write a review about the entire patch. He didn't even mention the majority of the changes, which as a review worth his salt should always do.

It isn't half-complete though. He was low level. He's not just going to get access to Ifrit without doing some leveling/power leveling/quests/etc. The point is, I see people crying for level cap increase, when there isn't enough content right now to satiate the lower levels. The only thing low level people have right now that is worth doing are behests, caravans, the level 15 dungeon, and regular grinding. You can't expect to say "oh, just play through the first 49 levels and then once you hit 50 you can start to play for real." That isn't how games work. You should have fun the entire spectrum.

So, from this reviewers standpoint, how can he test Ifrit, or the crafting upgrades, or any of the stuff past level 20. The game is not all about "end-game." Furthermore, the end game that does exist now is still very weak in many many ways. So he focused on what hasn't changed yet that needs to: the archaic interface, emptiness of the game content, and repetitive and monotonous gameplay.

[Vesper]

It isn't half-complete though. He was low level. He's not just going to get access to Ifrit without doing some leveling/power leveling/quests/etc. The point is, I see people crying for level cap increase, when there isn't enough content right now to satiate the lower levels. The only thing low level people have right now that is worth doing are behests, caravans, the level 15 dungeon, and regular grinding. You can't expect to say "oh, just play through the first 49 levels and then once you hit 50 you can start to play for real." That isn't how games work. You should have fun the entire spectrum.

So, from this reviewers standpoint, how can he test Ifrit, or the crafting upgrades, or any of the stuff past level 20. The game is not all about "end-game." Furthermore, the end game that does exist now is still very weak in many many ways. So he focused on what hasn't changed yet that needs to: the archaic interface, emptiness of the game content, and repetitive and monotonous gameplay.

Personally I do not want to see a level cap increase for another year. I would say a few months after PS3 release would be good.

[Ruisu]

I don't know why the opinion of a site that seriously thinks that The Old Republic or Guild Wars 2 will be anything revolutionary is even being taken into consideration. I mean, Guild Wars 2 may be fun, but TOR looks awful.

They can enjoy their hotkey masher and online dating sims, I really don't care. They gave Flyff a higher score than FFXI back in the day as well, so they just come off as the IGN of MMOs to me.